SECRET SAUCE IS A FOR PROFIT COMPANY WHOSE MISSION IS TO INVEST RESOURCES, CREATIVITY AND STRATEGY IN SURPRISING AND TIMELY INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARIES, FEATURE FILMS AND OTHER MEDIA PROJECTS.
Secret Sauce primarily invests in projects directed or co-directed by women, from first time to more veteran filmmakers, with an eye to inclusion & representation on screen. Julie believes the “Secret Sauce” behind any given project is the filmmaker/ producer team and their unique access to the story & characters. The company was founded and is headed by Julie Parker Benello, a Co-Founder of both Chicken & Egg Pictures and Gamechanger Films. Julie Executive Produces or Produces depending on her level of engagement on each project. Secret Sauce funds at the development, production and post production stage contingent on the filmmaker and project’s needs.
JULIE PARKER BENELLO
FOUNDER/PRODUCER
Julie is the Founder of Secret Sauce Media, her latest venture to produce and invest in surprising and timeless film projects. Julie co-founded Chicken & Egg Pictures, in 2005 with a shared belief that diverse women and non binary nonfiction storytellers have the power to catalyze change at home and around the globe. She is a producer on Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert’s Academy Award® Gotham and Independent Spirit winning feature documentary American Factory streaming on Netflix in partnership with Higher Ground Productions and Participant Media. She produced Bonni Cohen & Jon Shenk’s Emmy Award winning USA Gymnastics documentary – Athlete A (Tribeca 2021, Netflix). Most recently, she served as a producer on longtime collaborator Judith Helfand’s feature documentary, Love & Stuff which broadcast on POV in 2022, as well as Sarah Jones feature debut Sell Buy Date ( SXSW 2022, Cinedigm). She was an Executive Producer of United Skates (Tribeca 2018, HBO) and The Tale for Gamechanger Films, (Sundance 2018, HBO). Earlier in her career, she co-produced Blue Vinyl, served as a Production Executive for the company, Non Fiction Films and as an archival researcher for Discovery Channel series Cronkite Remembers. Julie lives in San Francisco and serves on the Board of SFFILM and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Documentary Branch and the Producers Guild of America.